Oktober 2022 Loot

 A fresh month, and some big stuff for the collection this month round.

As I received a fresh scale figure for the collection amongst other goodies.

What loot was all scored?  Let's find out in this clip:

And as always, the promised links...

Char Aznable: this was a pre-order from AmiAmi.

Slime 8, Santia Sho 7, Blue Period 8 and 9: these came in with my Archonia MyBox. 

Cell phone covers: a little gift from Noshi now she changed types.

Saint Seiya Time Odyssey volume 1: This came through La Cite des Nuages.

Funko Pop Hyoga; a gift Noshi bought me in the 4Geeks.

Food wars 1-5, Boku no Hero 2-4: These where found with a cheap price through a Facebook group.

Lot of BluRay and DVD's: these where found through the same Facebook group of above.

So yes, this has been a very, very good month for expanding the collection!

A Couple of Cuckoos

 Okay, so this is a rom-com with a strange premises...

Superstudent Nagi Umino was apparently switched at birth... and from there on we get a very special plot.  So this might be good fun!

Because on his way to dinner with his birth parents, he runs into brash Erika Amano, who wants to make him her fake boyfriend.  But arriving at the dinner, he learns his parents want to make up for the switch by having him married off to the girl they raised instead... which turns out to be Erika!

He has a crush however on his classmate Hiro, who is the only student smarter then him, and when he finally overcomes her in the test scores, she finally acknowledges him.  But not in a way he would have liked... but just as he makes some progress, Erica transfers into his class.  And instantly bonds with Hiro...

 

But Nagi has a crush on Hiro that hard, he even starts dreaming of school assignments as dates. But during a field trip, Erica is on the point of confessing she has a crush for Nagi herself.  Sachi, Erica's younger sister, comes over to visit but decides to move in with them instead.  Nagi confesses to Erica he isn`t ready yet, but he unwinds a bit after a fishing trip with his dad.  And gets to know the younger sister better as they go shopping together to find a suitable mother's day gift.  When he bumps into her during a black out, Sachi realises she has serious feelings for her older brother.

But it all reflects on his academic results, and when he doesn`t come up on top but only 13th, he gets an emotional beatdown.  But as he recovers, Erica asks him for tutoring in earnest, as she would be forced back home if she fails the exam.  But the festival is in town, and they all go there, Nagi hoping to get a date with Hiro there.  But he takes Erica on the date instead.  But when they run into Hiro, she finally asks how they are related, but Erica drags Nagi away to avoid the answer.  She catches up and they tell the story, Hiro understanding and approaching Nagi to no longer hold secrets for her.

During a trip with another classmate who has the hots for Erica, Hiro tells Nagi he is happy to be there with him, while their classmate confesses (sort off) to Erica he likes her a lot.  Later on, Erica decides to finally tell Nagi the truth, showing him an old family picture, and how he has an older brother.  While trying to find him, or even figure out he has one, he goes on a cycling date with Hiro.

But when the results of the schoolyear come in, he managed to actually rank first and finally "defeating" Hiro as such, winning his date with her.  But first, the gang goes to the beachside to celebrate the end of the schoolyear.  During a stay at a vacation home, the girls find out from each other they all actually like Nagi a lot, while Erica keeps trying to remember things about her missing brother.

Nagi and Hiro end up in an onsen hotel, but it turns out there is only a double futon in their room.  Instigated by Hiro, they are about to give in to the spark between them.  But Erika and Sachi barge into the room at a completely wrong moment, and a serious wrong impression followed by some claps to his cheecks ensue.  During Nagi's father birthday, an old family album is taken out of the closet.  They learn some facts about them as a result.

It wasn`t a bad series at all, though it felt somethings where left unresolved at the end.  But for a weekly anime watch, it was okay.

Boku No Hero Academia the movie 3: World Heroes' Mission

 The third outing of our young heroes to the cinema, and if the previous one is anything to go by, this would be a flashy adventure flick.

And it delivered...

A pro-quirkless faction, Humarise, is out to bring down all the heroes and other quirk holders, to ensure the regular man comes to the top again, and this under the guise of the Quirk Doomsday Theory.  After placing a terrorist attack, heroes are mobilised worldwide to find them and stop them.

Deku, Shoto and Baguko are assigned together with Endeavour and his team to the european country of Otheon.  Here, they try to prevent a jewelry theft, but as they run into a delinquent named Rody, Deku comes involved in something bigger.  Unknown to them, the suitcase with the jewels has been switched by that of a Humarise member, and containing some important data about the bombs.

Deku and Rody need to flee from the law, and want to get to the neighbouring country of Kaydt to get to the depth of it, finding nothing strange in the case.  When they are ambushed however and about to be overcome, Shoto and Bakugo arrive to save them as they figured out where he went from a cryptic message.  They discover a hidden compartment in the case, revealing the location of the bombs central control, as more and more bombs are discovered by the other heroes who work to disarm them.  But in the case is also a masterkey to turn them all down.

They go to the headquarters of Humarise, but are faced by some high powered villains.  Bakugo engages some chain projecting twins outside, while Shoto tries to hold back a large demonoid.  Deku himself confronts the leader of the cult, Flect.  He is also a quirkwielder, who blames his quirk for being isolated in life.  With powers to reflect everything thrown at him, he proves to much for Deku.

But when Rody gets injured trying to help Deku, he unleashes more of his One for All, and seemingly manages to "unlock" the ultimate finisher of his idol, All Might, to overcome the limits of Flect's power.  At this point, I remarked to Noshi he went all Super Saiyan.  The others also manage to defeat their opponents, but time is running out to disarm the bombs.  Until they discover that Rody rose to the challenge, dragging his gravely injured body to the basement, and using his quirk in the nick of time to enter the masterkey.

This was a fun movie, and with some mighty impressive special effect in it (the end part of the fight against Flect!!!) and of course some great Bakugo moments with him being, well, him...

Now, let season 6 come!

Prey

 A new Predator movie!  Let's hope it isn`t as bad as the previous ones we got, because face it, after the intitial two it went seriously downhill for our alpha hunter's franchise.

But the opinions I saw on this one looked promising, with a return to the feel of the very first original starring "Arnie" himself.

The setting seems odd though, as we are on the Great Northern Planes all the way back in 1719.  Here, a native american tribe is preparing to hunt a mountain lion as a rite of passage for their hunters and elect the new warchief.

Naru is a young girl trained as a healer, but she wants to become a hunter like her brother Taabe.  One day, she sees a sign, as a firebird breaks through the clouds.  This is actually the landing of the Predator drop off vessel, and as they are out after the lion she sees lightning amongst the trees.  

As she later roams the forests, she finds a herd of skinned buffalo, and says prayers.  However, a grizzly bear attacks and she escapes as it is killed by the camouflaged Predator.  French voyageurs capture her, and she learns they are out hunting the hunter, using her and her also captured brother as bait.  A slaughter amongst the french follows, and in the camp her brother sacrifices himself so she can flee.

Having caught the french leader, she uses him as bait now, drawing out the Predator who after killing him turns his sights on her.  But she made a trap using his own marker device, resulting in the Predator killing himself by using his guided arrows, and making her the new war chief of the village.  

The end credits do hint at a return in force of the Predators, but as we know from the franchise, if a hunter falls he is not avenged en masse, but just deemed unworthy and left behind, so don`t get hopes up on a sequel in this era.

But yes, it was a good movie, indeed giving off the desperate feel of the first movie.  The only big difference of course being we now all know what a Predator is, something that wasn`t revealed in that classic until about 3/4ths in.  But yup, it is worth the watch for sure!

Gundam Mk II Titans

 The latest gachapon figure to get painted (I actually might make the goal this year... might) for MechaTop in scale 1/400, is the Mk II Gundam, in the Titans colour scheme.

A welcome change I might add, in it's dark colours compared to the usual white of Gundams.

The model was a bottlecap figure, which was then painted over in two layers.  I find this a very simple yet easy method to make the model stand out on the detail level for such small figures (they are comparable in size with a Space Marine, but far less bulky).

And it also adds some "evil" models to the collection, as most Gundams are of course the good guys.  Though in Gundam, good and evil is very often a matter of perspective to be honest, especially in the older series where you had political threeways.

So, with 6 done now this year, onwards to the next, and what better suit then it's opponent in the Gundam Z series, the Zeta Gundam itself.

 

 

Lord Ipsqueek's Adventures: My very first themepark!

 Hey everyone, I have an amazing tale to tell you today!

Because past sunday, I went with my mommy, daddy and god-mother to my very first themepark, Plopsa Station in Antwerp!

 

Located in the Antwerp Central Station, this is a themepark spread over 4 floors of indoor fun, and I can asure you, it is GREAT fun for this little prince.

 

 

I must say, it was all very nicely done, with eye to detail and such the adults said, but I didn`t really listen to them.  I am here for the rides!  And I didn`t have to wait long in lines, as this small scale park had about 50 attendees in the morning.  It good a bit busier in the afternoon, but still we could get on everything smoothly.

 

 

I started out with piloting an actual airplane, taking me to the skies.

 

 

After that, it was some cool bouncing frogs.  I really adored this ride the most of all, I laughed the whole time as I hopped around the room in them.

 

 

Being the considerate little prince that I am, I decided to give mommy a work-out for the next ride, because the higher you wanted to go, the harder you needed to pedal.  And I wanted to go SKY HIGH! 

We then went to hunt some cowboys, and daddy won this contest pfuh!  I think it was because I lost time explaining mommy how the game worked.

 

 

I filed my complaints to grandma as such!

After that, it was time for lunch and a small nap, because mastering all those rides is a hungrying and tireing affair mind you.

Back in action, I went with daddy in a race track ride, but this wasn`t so fun.  I think it was actually my least favorite of all as I was tossed all around in the little car, nope, not my thing at all.

We helped out the Smurfs after, but daddy forgot to take pictures.  But I won this one together with mommy!  That will teach you daddy!

Who then duly went to complain with granddad... the sour loser!

We went on a lovely classic carrousel after that.

As it was about time to start heading home again, I put up my cutest smile because I wanted to do just one more ride before we went...

Hihi.

I also got some awesome presents in the gift shop, a Peppa Pig car and some uberfun Bumba bathtoys from auntie Shefaly, whom I of course took along in bad with me in the evening!

 

 

So this was an awesome experience for sure!  Thanks for taking me along, I really enjoyed the day... and the night as I fell asleep as a rock afterwards hihi. 

Until my next adventure!

 

Monster Hunter

 Recently, me and Noshi sat down behind Netflix to watch this adaption of the famous japanese fantasy video game of the same name.

And I remember the movie being hyped back then, starring Milla Jovovich and Ron Perlman, but bombed at the box office due to the Covid pandemic breaking out.

Well, I guess that wasn't the only reason...

The movie starts with a team of US Rangers looking for companions who are under attack.  When they arrive at the spot, they have disappeared as a strange electrical storm washes over them.  This storm transports them to a strange desert, and soon they are attacked by a huge horned monster, a Diablos.

Loosing some of her team, captain Artemis and her people find refuge in a cave, but are quickly assaulted by giant spider like creatures.  These kill the remainder of her team, but thanks to a local Hunter she gets out.  The Hunter, after an initial misunderstanding, starts training her how to survive in this world.  Using cunning, they kill one of the spider creatures, and using it's poison manage to overcome the Diablos.  They arrive at an oasis, where peacefull dinosaur like beasts roam.

But when these are attacked by a dragon like beast, the Hunter's team arrives and bails them out.  The team's leader has mastered english from previous visitor's from her world, and tells her that a catastrophal [prtal created by an ancient civilisation is at the heart of it.  One of their portal devices, the Sky Tower, is creating these, and the results are that a new catastrophic event is eminent.  To try and shut it down, they have to defeat the dragon and she agrees to help.

 

During the fight, she falls in a portal back to her world, and is recovered by her forces.  But the dragon has followed, and makes quick work of the armoured column.  Her newfound friends have followed her through however, and together they kill the beast.  But as a new one emerges, she decides she have to get back to the other world...

 

 

Okay, so it was action packed and a rumble against okay CGI'd monsters, but to be honest this movie didn`t do me anything, probably one of the worst things I saw this year.  Okay, not as bad as 365 Days, but getting close though.

 

Oh well, it was to be expected as soon as I saw machine guns in a fantasy game adaption I guess...

The Haul Report 340

 Time for some second hand stuff trades this week, all found trough a Facebook group, and arranged with Vinted for the buyer protection.

Let's call it a good by-product of the clean-out of the wargames stuff...

 

The first lot being this nice stack of manga.  While I already have the first volume of My Hero Academia, and as such will be putting that one on Vinted myself for a trade, the others are new reading.  It came down to about 6 euro for a volume of MHA and 8 for a Food Wars book, so that is a great bargain.  And the latter now another series I might be looking for to complete over the coming months and years through the My Box system, or christmas and birthday lists.

 

 

The second trade is this little heap of DVD's and BluRays, whom came down to about 10 euro for the lot.  Guess me and Noshi can do some watching the coming evenings for classics.

So this was a fun week for sure, and a win win as I got more space at the one hand by cleaning out stuff, and had that space filled again with stuff of intrest hehehe.

Oh, and I got some new cutlery for lunchies at work...

On the Painting Desk 217

 Success!

 

The Freedom has been fully painted now, and all that has to be done is basing.

 

 

To that end, I ordered some official MechaTop bases for some more stability, and I can start on  putting him in a nice and cosy piece of landscape.

Now, until that is done, and you will see it in the full build report of this kit then in a seperate post, it is tme to do some other things, and aim for the gachapon goal still for this year.

And the mobile suit I began working on to that end, is the Titans gundam from Gundam Zeta.  A welcome change as well in colour scheme, as this Gundam is dark grey and dark blue, nearly black.

So with that first black coat added, it has been a good week for painting.

My Dress-Up Darling volume 5 - Shinichi Fukuda

 And we are back to the budding romance between the class loner Gojo and the popular girl that wants to cosplay Marin.

And as she comes to Gojo to fit a very revealing outfit he is making for one of her favorite characters, he blunders around in her open and casual style.

 

In order to tune Gojo up a bit, Marin takes him out shopping, realising all the more how hard she is falling in love with him.   As he prepares for a shoot after visiting a manga cafe and getting an idea for a succubus cosplay, Marin books them a studio.  However, this studio turns out to be a love hotel instead, making Gojo feeling very uncomfortable being there with Marin.  But during the shoot, they accidentally get very close to each other.

As her dad returns briefly home, Marin is forced to do her vacation homework first.  But when she finishes, she and Gojo go out together to a fireworks festival, having a lovely time as summer draws to an end.  She promises to wear better shoes the next year as Gojo has to carry her for blisters on her feet, cementing their friendship.  Later on, when Gojo comforts her by phone as she can't sleep due to a horror movie they saw, she hears him falling asleep on the other side.  And confesses she loves him on the phone...

And that is where the anime ended, so every new volume now, starting soon with volume 6, is a brand new journey of exploration for me in this lovely cute love story.  I can`t wait to dive in!

Orient part 2

 The fun fantasy samurai series is back, and in this second season it adapts the story of the Battle of Awaji Island.

 

 

And they are out to unravel what happened to Kojirou's father, together with the Kanemaki band they seek out the Uesugi band.

 

Arriving right before a battle being prepared,  he meets lord Uesugi who tells him he doesn`t want young Bushi to die pointlessly anymore.  In a duel with two band chiefs, he is defeated though even if he puts up a good resistance at first.  Now he is forced to follow the lead of a rude Bushi warrior.  When ambushed by lesser Oni, a mysterious man called Naoe, one of the three Dragons of the band of lord Uesugi, intervenes.  Taking out a hundred at once, Musashi learns he still has a long way to go, and how Bushi can combine their powers into stronger attacks.

After his poor performance in battle, Musashi gets seen as the lowest sort of fighter there is.  But Katsumi, leader of another band in his force, sees his potential.  But there is seemingly a spy amongst them, as Michiru is a daughter of the obsidian follower they face, and Musashi is framed to lure her out.  But during the rescue, servants of her father appear revealing her true nature. Mushashi runs off with her though, but the Oni catch up, challenging the Uesugi.  While they defeat them, the Uesugi lord is strikken down by the returning Shiro...

He gets challenged by the Uesugi, but as he is joined by another of the Obsidian Eight, the Uesugi can`t take them down.  As the castle is assailed, Musashi faces Michiru's father, learning there is more to it all then just taking lives or running away.  But her father turns her to obsidian as the attack on the castle and the bushi picks up pace, and resetting as a result Michiru's memories.  She helps defend Musashi though, just as Takeda comes to the aid of the Bushi.

The Bushi take the fight to the Obsidian Eight, in a battle that will be decided by the best tacticians on both sides to make the plans.  Uesugi of the Obisidan is struck down by the Red Blade Champion Naoe, as Takeda faces Shiro, who is revealed to be a White blade user, the rarest and strongest class of bushi there is.  But Takeda had secretly developped a technique against Shiro, whom he had faced in the past, to shatter his kitsetsu blade.

When the end game is upon them, the bands have to get together in order to be able to break it's horn and overcome them, but it comes at great efforts... and Musashi puts himself aside for the group to break through, realizing he could help even if he can't link up.  But they have been desceived, as the Oni wasn't defeated at all, growing ever stronger.

Akihiro and his band try to defeat the great Oni, but he falters in his resolve until his brothers rally around him, and they overcome the big beast at last, cutting it's horn.  And rescueing their lord, who wasn't killed after all but taken away to the island.

 

But the evil lord has one more ace up his sleeve: unleashing a monstrous sword-transformed Michiru upon the Bushi bands, wielded by her Kishin father.  This makes Musashi unleash the power of the Obisidan Godess again, but as he keeps her in control this time, his aura turns gold instead.  He defeats the lord, allowing Michuru to talk and make peace with her father.  But she realises he cannot be saved, and she must say farewell to Musashi as well.  But her father comes to insight, and saves Michuru from fading out of existence as well after he is defeated... for a short while so she and Musashi can enjoy some lovely time together.

This was a relaxing series to watch, and while perhaps not the most epic shonen series out there, it is one that I enjoy following.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

 The latest instalment in the Wizarding World franchise, and also the third Fantastic Beasts movie.

And as such, after Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp, also the third actor to play Grindlewald in the person of the always magnificent Mads Mikkelsen.

 

Taling place a few years after the events of the second film, in 1932, Newt is helping a Qilin give birth.  A magical creature with the power to see the pureness of one's soul, but he is attacked and the mother killed by Grindlewald's followers.  They kidnap the newborn, but unknown to them there where two calves born.

 

 

Grindlewald kills the first beast though, intending to use it's power of precognition.  Dumbledore recruits a group of wizards to tackle Grindlewald's plan, as they travel to Berlin and the ministry of Magic there.  Here they witness how Grindlewald is absolved of his crimes, allowing him to run in the elections of becoming the next leader of the Wizarding World, and enable him to declare war on the muggle world.  

 

While the group splits up to work from different angles, the power of Grindlewald keeps ascending as he prepares for the elections in Bhutan, resurrecting the Qilin calf as a pawn to influence the chosing.  They are faced with the acolytes, but manage to get to the election stage, and with the help of the calf that is still alive prevent Grindlewald of becoming the one ruler.  

 

 

So this was an enjoyable movie, but really not the greatest of all.  Fantastic Beasts, which should be what this trilogy is all about, is even more then in the previous instalment just an afterthought, and I wonder if it either will continue, or if we will get a new series about Grindlewald's war on the regular world instead.

 

Well, I don`t have a precognition spell, so I guess we will have to wait and see...

Bubble

 Recently, Noshi and me sat down behind our Netflix and put on this highly reviewed anime movie.

And I can already say, we where impressed!

Because this is a true masterpiece by Wit Studious, the animation is gorgeous and full of movement, the colours on said titular bubbles is truly playing your eye... amazing work.

The story is that a few years ago, mysterious bubbles started falling to earth, breaking the laws of reality.  When an explosion on Tokyo Tower concentrates them allaround Tokyo, the city becomes uninhabitable.  But young people sneak into the city to hold games of "Battleground Parcours", and the Blue Blazes are one of the top teams, thanks to an introvert boy named Hibiki, who has hearing ultrasensitivity.

One day Hibiki tries to climb the tower as he hears a woman's voice singing, but falls in the water and is about to drown.  One of the bubbles however combines with his final exhale, transforming in a young girl that saves him.  He takes her along to his team, calling her Uta, and she joins their ranks, unknown to Hibiki and the others what she really is.

They beat a rival team, the Undertakers, together in a very intense game, but in the final catch when Uta takes Hibiki's arm, it dissolves into bubbles.  Bubble activity starts up again as it threatens to destroy Tokyom so the residents try to flee but get stuck.  It comes down to Hibiki and his friends to get to the tower where Uta went to in order to try and stop the activity.

Hibiki manages to reach her, and learns of how one particular bubble was attracted to him all those years ago before the explosion, and how it saved him.  Since then, it has been watching over him, as she fell in love with Hibiki like the tale of the Little Mermaid.  She fades into bubbles, but in her last breath she tells him it was worth it all to become human, no matter how briefly, and be with him.  The bubbles are calming, and Tokyo is being rebuild, but Hibiki still practices parkour, with a bubble following him...

A truly beautifull movie based on the tale of the Little Mermaid, with a just as dramatic yet hopeful ending, and definitly worth to watch on Netflix!

My Dress-Up Darling volume 4 - Shinichi Fukuda

 The day of the big collaboration shoot with JuJu-sama draws ever nearer.

But as Marin and JuJu prepare themselves, Gojo pulls out a secret.

He was approached by JuJu's younger sister, who also wanted to cosplay and a favorite character from the series.  But feeling totally unconfident that she would fit in, Gojo decided to help her in secret and make a third costume as such, specially for her.

But in order to change Shinju's appearance from a girl to a boy, he needs to perform some tricks he learned as when he was a kid, to camouflage forms in a kimono.  The result is amazing when she gets revealed at the photoshoot, as her own sister barely recognised her as a result.

The shoot becomes a great success, the girls all enjoying the collaboration.  Afterwards, Marin asks if Gojo would want to cosplay as well, but that is something he has no intrest in.  But Marin experiences a slight form of jealousy when he tells her how the plan was formed with Shinju though...

During the summer holiday, he is over at marin's being constantly beaten in a video game, and one of the characters is another costume Marin would like to have made.  The discussion that follows about an underboob finally made me realise why it's labelled Mature Content by the way.  But this is by far the easiest costume Gojo had to make... and then Marin turns up all tanned especially for trying it out.

How that unfolds, I`ll have to read in the next volume of this highly enjoyable series... and this issue had some small "How To" tutorials for cosplay in it as well...